Post by Enigma! on May 23, 2007 12:35:30 GMT -5
Okay, so by now many of you may have heard about the rejection of Comics Foundry Magazine by Diamond Distribution. But for those of you who haven't, I'll give you the short version.
The Comics Foundry is a Website (not unlike Ain't It Cool News or other comics related sites/blogs) that does reports and interviews. You may have even seen the video of editor Tim Leong crying over the state of Wizard magazine. Welp, he decided to publish a print magazine of his own:
Translation: It would, in theory, stradle the fence between the mainstream (Wizard) and Indie (Comics Journal) comics worlds and ride it harder than John Travolta on the mechanical bull in "Urban Cowboy."
But Diamond rejected it. It's official reason is something along the lines of "We believe the quality of this eighty page, black and white publication is too low for the price at which you wish to sell it."
Leong's response?
He is currently calling upon his loyal readers to write to Diamond saying that they want Comic Foundry Magazine to be published. Now this is all well and good, except:
Once again, Diamond has broken another person's dreams, and once again Diamond itself it blamed. I say to the Comics Foundry, show us exactly what your magazine would look like, then we'll decide if you were on the right. In either case, man up, ya wuss!
The Comics Foundry is a Website (not unlike Ain't It Cool News or other comics related sites/blogs) that does reports and interviews. You may have even seen the video of editor Tim Leong crying over the state of Wizard magazine. Welp, he decided to publish a print magazine of his own:
It'd feature brand new concepts, ideas, formats and presentations, to help breathe life to something fresh and exciting. I want to find new ways to cover comics and create something the readers deserve.
Translation: It would, in theory, stradle the fence between the mainstream (Wizard) and Indie (Comics Journal) comics worlds and ride it harder than John Travolta on the mechanical bull in "Urban Cowboy."
But Diamond rejected it. It's official reason is something along the lines of "We believe the quality of this eighty page, black and white publication is too low for the price at which you wish to sell it."
Leong's response?
Fact: our cover price is $6.25 for an 80-page B&W magazine. Now they might not think that will sell, but it isn't consistent with what they're already approving. Such as Issue 14 of Draw! magazine, that's 80 pages, B&W and retails for $6.95. Same with issue 15 of Write Now! Both same specs, but 70 cents more...
So, to be a timely magazine with topical content (and feature images of comic characters) it has to be in color? I'm sorry, I've thought about this all afternoon, and I don't really see how this makes sense. What about The Comics Journal or Comics Buyers Guide? Neither of those are full-color, right?
So, to be a timely magazine with topical content (and feature images of comic characters) it has to be in color? I'm sorry, I've thought about this all afternoon, and I don't really see how this makes sense. What about The Comics Journal or Comics Buyers Guide? Neither of those are full-color, right?
He is currently calling upon his loyal readers to write to Diamond saying that they want Comic Foundry Magazine to be published. Now this is all well and good, except:
- The Comics Journal and the Two Morrows magazines that he mentions are older than dirt, and their distribution may have been grandfathered in since a major change in Diamond's ranks.
- They may have just been politely saying "your magazine looks like crap." But we'll never know, because the Foundry didn't give example of what the magazine looks like.
Once again, Diamond has broken another person's dreams, and once again Diamond itself it blamed. I say to the Comics Foundry, show us exactly what your magazine would look like, then we'll decide if you were on the right. In either case, man up, ya wuss!